Electric shower advice please.....

[Baddegg]

Fitted 9.5 kw aquas aquamax shower today (customer supplied) and new full rcbo consumer unit, all good except the shower is absolute s£&t! Even on the highest setting the water is only moderately hot, water pressure seems fine and no different to any other showers I’ve fitted, one thing I did notice was when I clamped the meter tails with the shower running on full heat it only ever pulls approximately 15amps,new 10mm cable run in void under the floor for approx 18mtrs to a chase in the wall upto isolation switch with pvc wall panels over that,plenty of free air around the cable,admittedly I’ve never had to clamp a shower before but does that seems low for a 9.5kw shower?
Thanks as always

 

[suffolkspark]

Check continuity of each element in the shower, or say its clearly buggered and get a new one

 

[Baddegg]

Thanks Suffolk,that’s my plan tomorrow ha ha just want to make sure I havnt missed anything, I can see it becoming --- for tat with the manufacturers....

 

[telectrix]

almost deffo a faulty shower. should pull at least 35A on high setting.

 

[Spoon]

Just my opinion mate but you are responsible for the circuit to the shower. Check to see if it is all fine. If it is then it's down to the customer to get a new shower, as you did not supply it.

 

[static zap]

almost deffo a faulty shower. should pull at least 35A on high setting.

..Unless the lights are dimming badly with it .!!

 

[ChrisElectrical88]

Some shower have dip switches on the PCB where you can un limit the temp of the shower.

Also just a tip for showers, most of you already know but always purge the shower before using it just to make sure the water pressure is what it should be if the water has been off.

Although as Tel says 35-37 amps on top setting shohld be what your getting.

 

[Baddegg]

Thanks spoon, yes checked the circuit all fine, as I say it’s all new and all readings are good,just like to cover my arse ya know

 

[Baddegg]

Thanks Tel, that’s what I assumed,at 15a I could’ve run it 2.5! Ha ha

 

[Baddegg]

Thanks Chris I’ll check that tomorrow

 

[Andy78]

It doesn't have an economy/summer setting that is enabled does it ?

 

[telectrix]

Thanks Tel, that’s what I assumed,at 15a I could’ve run it 1.5! Ha ha

corrected that for you.

 

[littlespark]

Check water pressure.
I fitted a customer supplied shower that he took water from cold bath tap.... was tank fed, less than a bar pressure. The shower just cut out when trying to run.
He had to get a plumber to tap into the mains pipe feeding the tank.
It’ll tell you in the installation manual if it’s mains only.

 

[Baddegg]

Check water pressure.
I fitted a customer supplied shower that he took water from cold bath tap.... was tank fed, less than a bar pressure. The shower just cut out when trying to run.
He had to get a plumber to tap into the mains pipe feeding the tank.
It’ll tell you in the installation manual if it’s mains only.

Connected to mains Chris..did the jug test and gets about 1.3 bar,manufacturers state between 1 and 1.5 is fine anything above is good

 

[telectrix]

we get 1.5 bar till someone flushes the bog. then the shower goes cold till the bog refills. it's a cracking way to get teenage daughters out the shower.

 

[littlespark]

If it’s not the electric, and it’s not the water pressure, then it must be the shower itself.
As others have said, you didn’t supply it, so it’s not your responsibility... and dismantling it to look for faults will invalidate the warranty.

 

[Wilko]

Hi - reading the instructions it triggers a couple of thoughts, for what it's worth :
Check 240V at unit when under full load, as that's the way they've calculated 9.5kW heating.
Check at least 1 bar pressure is maintained at the unit when it's discharging at 9l per minute. This one may be the killer, in that if the static pressure is only 1.3 bar then when you turn it on the pressure may well drop below 1 bar ( @telectrix reminded me with the loo flushing scenario ) . It's a pricey unit and is called "Smart" which usually means too smart, ha.

What shower did they have in there before?

 

[Wilko]

Seeing double ...

 

[Baddegg]

Hi Wilko,thanks for that, no shower before this,meant to update last night but got a bit involved watching solo with my youngest son.....anyway had time for further tests yesterday it turns out that the eco button micro switch wasn’t working correctly so the shower was stuck in 5.5kw mode, when then button was physically held in the water came through screaming hot and the amp reading jumped straight up to 36-38
Told customer she can either send the unit back or contact manufacturers for the part, thanks to all for replying as always

 

[Gary Gemmell]

Shower has two coils inside - once the second one fails the heat drops - its what the settings on the heat control switch - element 1 or element 1 + 2.

one of the coils is gone thus reducing the power consumption!